The laying of the foundation stone for the CGIAR Consortium’s headquarters in Montpellier, France has paved the way for a new era of global agricultural research for food security.
During the ceremony, held on March 4th, the CGIAR Consortium reinforced its strategic partnerships with the French Research and Higher Education Institutions working in the field of agriculture, biodiversity and the environment, namely; CIRAD, IRD, INRA, Agropolis Foundation and Agreenium.
The day was also marked by the presentation of successful examples of research partnerships between France and CGIAR in the rice and forest sectors, and by the signing of the CGIAR Consortium Host Country Agreement – an agreement which formalizes the privileges and immunities extended by the French government to the International Organization.
CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, Carlos Pérez del Castillo, described the day as “historic” for the organization, which has a staff of almost 10,000, working in 120 countries, with an annual budget of US$900 million for research aimed at advancing global food security.
The CGIAR president thanked officials from the Languedoc-Roussillon Region and Agropolis International for the backing given to the Consortium since it set up in temporary premises in Montpellier in 2011. Work on the new headquarters at the Agropolis Campus is due to be completed in Spring 2014. Perez del Castillo said the CGIAR Consortium was creating ”its own identity in Montpellier, a city that plays a definitive role in solving challenges to global food security.”
The decision of the Consortium to build its headquarters in Montpellier confirms the southern French city as a hub of research for agriculture and food production directed at finding solutions to food insecurity in the developing world. A number of French research institutes, including CIRAD, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the Institute for Development Research (IRD) are based there, and several of them are already working on joint research projects with CGIAR scientists.
Presenting the CGIAR Research Program on Rice, (known as the Global Rice Science Partnership, or GRiSP), IRD Research Director Alain Ghesquière described it as an excellent example of research collaboration between France and the CGIAR Consortium. The program brings together 80 researchers from both organizations, working together to improve food security.
The staple food of 3.5 billion people, most of them living in poor areas of Asia and Africa, the rice sector faces a massive challenge – that of increasing production by 25% by 2035, while at the same time limiting or reducing its environmental impact. Research conducted by GRiSP, launched in 2010, is seeking to find ways of making this possible, mobilizing substantial human and financial resources as part of the international partnership.
The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, launched in 2011 and presented by Alain Billand, Director of CIRAD’s Tropical Forest Goods and Ecosystem Services research unit, is another example of close cooperation between France and CGIAR.
The aim of the initiative, which brings together scientists from CGIAR, CIRAD and IRD, is to improve the management of forests and agroforestry systems. A special focus is to help vulnerable communities who are dependent on natural resources, and who face growing pressure due to land degradation and climate change.
Christian Bourquin President of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, which is funding the new €2.6 million headquarters for the CGIAR Consortium, said the region had made the contribution as a way of helping to “mobilize the best of international science in order to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve human health and nutrition and ensure sustainable resource management”.
The decision of the Consortium to move its headquarters to Montpellier confers the French city with powerful influence on crucially important issues of food production and development aid, he said. For its part, the Region can expect to reap financial benefits, as a result of new partnerships and markets, especially in the sector of sustainable management. “We have the world on our doorstep,” he said.
Photo credit: C.Salson/ Agropolis International